Creating adjectives with -voll
Turn nouns into adjectives by adding suffixes. The suffix -voll corresponds to the English "-ful" and indicates an abundance of a quality. For example, adding it to der Humor creates humorvoll (humorous), and adding it to das Gefühl (feeling) creates gefühlvoll (emotional).
Like all adjectives, words ending in -voll take standard endings when placed directly before a noun.
| The protagonist is a humorous man. | Der Protagonist ist ein humorvoller Mann. |
| The author develops an emotional protagonist. | Der Autor entwickelt einen gefühlvollen Protagonisten. |
Indicating absence with -los
The exact opposite is the suffix -los, which works just like the English "-less" to indicate the absence of a quality.
| A humorless character has no good traits. | Eine humorlose Figur hat keine guten Eigenschaften. |
| Why is this character so unfeeling? | Warum ist diese Figur so gefühllos? |
Contrasting character traits
Because -voll and -los are direct opposites, they are perfect for contrasting characters. Common base nouns include die Fantasie (imagination) and die Hoffnung (hope).
| The protagonist is very imaginative, while this character is unimaginative. | Der Protagonist ist sehr fantasievoll, während diese Figur fantasielos ist. |
| When the postman brought the letter, the woman was hopeful. | Als der Postbote den Brief brachte, war die Frau hoffnungsvoll. |
| When the perpetrator thought about the trial, he was hopeless. | Als der Täter an den Prozess dachte, war er hoffnungslos. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io